Ricciuti column: Hudson has veteran golf squad

Thursday

Aug 28, 2014 at 1:00 AM

By Phil RicciutiSports correspondent

Fourth-year Hudson High School golf coach Rick Wood lost his top two players to graduation, but greeted enough returning veterans when practice opened last week to be confident about the upcoming season.

Wood hasn’t selected his top six golfers for this season yet, but he has six returning veterans.

The Hawks are led by seniors Ben Palatino and Noah McDonald, who alternated last year between the third and fourth positions behind graduated seniors Pat Cadden and Kenny Manero. Two other starters from last year, Steve Fahey and Mike Pollard, are also back. Two others who could be in the starting lineup are sophomore William Marsh and freshman James Trainor.

"We haven’t settled on our top six yet, but those six will certainly be in the mix," Wood said.

"Things are really looking good so far this season. We still have a lot of younger kids on the team, but they are getting better and we should be in pretty good shape this season."

Wood is confident that his annual goal of reaching the postseason will be attainable.

"In the past we have played a 17-match schedule and that make it hard to reach the 50 percent win level needed to qualify. This year we will be playing just 16 and that will increase our chances," Wood said.

The Hawks will open the season Tuesday at North Middlesex.

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Included among many rule changes contemplated by the MIAA for the 2015-2017 high school seasons are three that deserve mention. The biggest one is a proposal from the Massachusetts Youth Rugby Association to recognize both boys and girls rugby as a MIAA approved spring sport. The season would consist of 10 games, including playoffs. The proponents of the addition of the sport cited a large growth in younger players participating in rugby and an increased interest in a sport that will be added to the 2016 Olympics.

Adding an additional spring sport might work for some larger schools, but could also put a burden on schools with smaller enrollments. Lacrosse was the last sport added. The sport is certainly a success at the high school level, but it has also created some number problems for some spring sports at some schools. The addition of yet another sport to the spring schedule would only increase those problems.

The other two changes would be to increase the ice hockey schedule from 20 to 22 games and to allow baseball players to begin arm conditioning programs under the direction of the team’s coach a week before the start of preseason practice.

There is no opinion here on the hockey schedule change proposal. However, the arm conditioning program does deserve some consideration. Proponents of the change site an alarming increase in arm injuries early in the preseason and believe this change will help prepare players for the strain of throwing a baseball, especially in the cold weather that often come with the opening of practice in the Northeast.